Thursday, February 2, 2012

1/28/12-2/2/12

The last few days have seen me settle into something of a routine: in the morning I go out (sometimes alone, sometimes with others) to collect butterflies, in the afternoons I do various work in the insectaries, mostly taking care of larvae. Some other happenings of note:
On the 29th I had a glorious day off, spent doing nothing more than reading in a hammock all day.
On the 31st we took a trip into Panama city to take care of some administrative stuff and get my STRI driver’s license at the main STRI campus. Afterwards, we went to a different, incredibly fancy mall (think Cartier, Tiffany’s, and Hermes) to buy a few supplies and go see a movie at the “VIP Theater,” which has leather recliners for seats, waiters who deliver food, and costs about what you’d pay for a normal movie in the US.
The 1st commenced with manual transmission driving lessons, as I’d managed to make it this far without ever learning to drive stick, and all the STRI trucks are manual. Fortunately, I knew how to drive stick in theory, and the trucks here, with clutches flogged by hundreds of first-timers like me, are very forgiving. However, we did get stranded outside of Gamboa for a few hours when a Canal Authority truck (carrying liquid dynamite for dredging) crashed on the one-lane bridge into Gamboa and had to be lifted off with a crane.

Up until this point, I didn’t have internet at my apartment, so uploading pictures and movies wasn’t easy. I now have internet, so I’ll be able to post those more often.